Wood-splitting machine.



HQG. SAEGKER. WOOD SPLITTING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED 812F123, 1907.

Patented Sept. 22, 1908.

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H. G. SAEGKBR. WOOD SPLITTING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 23

Patented Sept. 22, 1908.

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HERMAN G. SAECKER', OF APPLETON, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR TO APPLETON MACHINE COMPANY, OF APPLETON, WISCONSIN.

WOOD-SPLITTING MACHINE.

Patented Sept. 22, 1908.

To all whom it may concern:

' Be it known that I, HERMAN G. SAEoKER, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Appleton, in the county of Outagamie and State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Wood- Splitting Machines; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

The primary object of my invention is to increase the efiiciency of wood-splitting machines and at the same time reduce the amount of manual labor required to feed machines of this class.

Another object being to sim lify and reduce the cost of manufacture as'we as to increase the durability of said machine, the construction and arrangement being such that logs or wood blocks may be dropped into a horizontal position upon the machine by which they are su ported, the log being alined with a plural-e ged splitting-head, which head has a reciprocative stroke sufficient to cause its cutting-edges to enter the end of the log and split the same into a plurality of strips.

The machine is especially designed for splitting wood to be thereafter converted into pulp for paper making.

Said invention therefore consists in various details of construction and combination of parts as hereinafter described with reference to the accom anying drawings and subsequently claimed? In the drawings: Fi ure 1 represents a lan view of a wood-sp itting machine emliodying the features of my invention, the View being shown with parts in section to better illustrate certain details of construction Fig. 2, a sectional elevation of the same, the section being indicated by line 22 .of Fig. 1; Figs. 3 and 4 cross-sections of the machine, as indicated on lines 33 and 4-4 respectively of Fig. 2, the said cross-sections illustrating the front and rear view of thes litting-head and its reciprocative guide;

ig. 5, a side elevation of a portion of the machine showing the splitting-head drivingmechanism, with parts broken away and parts in section; Fig. 6, a partial longitudinal sectional view of the machine clutchmechanism, the section being indicated by line 66 of Fig. 5; Fig. 7, a detail face view of a clutch-member with the crank-shaft to which it is attached in section, as indicated To one end of the frame is secured a pair of boxes 3, 3, that serve as bearings for a driveshaft 4, which shaft is provided at one end with a suitable drive-pulley 5, its opposite end having attached thereto a transmission spur-pinion 6 that is meshed with a gearwheel 7 loosely mounted upon one end of a crank-shaft 8 as shown. This crank-shaft is in turn mounted in bearing-blocks 9 secured to the frame-beams 1, 1, a central crank-pin 10 of which crank-shaft carries a pitman 11, which pitman is wristed to a splitter-head 12 that constitutes a reciprocating cross-head. The front or cutting-face of the splitter-head is formed with radial wedge-shaped cuttingblades vertically and horizontally disposed and at right-angles to each other, the vertical blades 13 being continuous and upon a different plane or slightly in advance of the horizontal blades 14., which latter blades project from the face of the former in the shape of wedge-like wings, all blades having straight cutting-edges.

The object in placing the blades or cutting edges upon different planes, is that, by so doing the 'splitting operation is rendered more easily as the advance blades first meet the resistance of the log which is partially split in one direction before entrance of the opposite blades is efiected.

The splitting head has longitudinal rear wings 15 that are grooved for the reception of guide-rails 16, which rails are secured to brackets 17 bolted to the beams 1. Oppositely disposed with relation to said splittinghead is a foot-block 18, which foot-block'is tied to the bearing-blocksQ at the opposite end of the machine by means of rods 19, the rods being passed through apertures of the brackets 17 and also sleeves of the respective blocks to which they are secured, by nuts 20, in threaded engagement with said rods.

The frame has secured thereto between the foot-block and cutting-head a sheetmetal work-rest or table 21 on which the log or wood block is supported when dropped into place by the operator. As indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2, one end of said log, when in position, will abut the foot-rest when its opposite end is opposed by the cuttingedges of the aforesaid splitting-head. By this construction the resistance strain offered at the foot of the log in splitting is entirely taken up by the tie-rods and their connections.

Transmission of power to the crankshaft 8 from the drive-shaft 4 is controlled by a clutch-mechanism in connection with gearwheel 7, said mechanism being arranged to be thrown in and out of gear by a hand-lever 22, which lever is secured to an arbor 23 loosely mounted in bearing-brackets 24 that are fast to one of the frame-beams. A clutch-member 25, having a plurality of notches 26 therein is keyed to the crankshaft and has one of its faces adjacent that of the gear-wheel 7. This clutch-member is coupled to said gear-Wheel through plungers 27 carried thereby and reciprocative in apertures therein, the plunger being arranged to engage the notches 26. Said plungers are connected by a yoke 28, which is provided -with a central guide-pin 29 reciprocatively seated in a central aperture of the crankshaft. The outer end of the plunger is reduced and has secured thereto a shackle 30, by means of a nut 31, that is in threaded engagement with the said plunger end, which end produces and is opposed by a finger 32 fitted into the shackle 30 and secured to the arbor 23 that is rocked by the hand-lever. Coil-springs 33 surround the plungers and are interposed between the yoke 28 and adjacent face of the gear-Wheel 7, by means of which springs the plungers are disconnected from the clutch-member, the gear-wheel being loosely mounted upon the crank-end, and held thereon by a collar 34 as best shown in Fig. 6 of the drawings.

By the above construction of clutch it is obvious that oscillation of the hand-lever causes gear-wheel 7 to be connected or disconnected from the crank shaft clutchmember, thus, at will, imparting rotation to said crank-shaft from the drive-shaft pinion, to thereby actuate the splittinghead, the coil-springs serving to uncouple the clutch if not positively done by the operator.

From the foregoing description it Will be seen that a splitting-machine is produced whereby there is no adjusting of the woodblock or alinement necessary to a splitting operation, other than to drop the same upon the work-support, the log being split in the required number of sections. This is accomplished by utilizing a splitting-head having a plurality of radial cutting-edges that at one stroke willseparate the log into quarters. Thus owing to horizontal disposition of the machine, the log may be dropped into place and is thereafter acted upon Without further handling.

While I have shown and described the splitting-head as being composed of a single piece, in some instances the radial cuttingfaces or blades may be separable therefrom, whereby the same can be readily renewed or interchanged for blades of different designs and consistent with the work required.

I claim: a

1. A wood-splitting machine having a horizontally disposed frame comprising parallel angle-iron beams, a foot-block extending crosswise of the beam ends and secured thereto, alined bearing-blocks secured to the opposite ends of the beams, tie-rods connecting the foot-block and bearing-blocks, brackets provided with guide-rails secured to the beams, a splitter-head slidably mounted upon guide-rails, a crank-shaft mounted in the bearing-blocks, a pitman in connection with the crank-shaft and splittenhead, and a work-rest secured to said angle-iron beams intermediate of the brackets and footblock.

2. A wood-splitting machine having a 1ongitudinally disposed frame comprising parallel angle-iron beams, a foot-block extending crosswise of the beam ends and secured thereto, alined bearing-blocks secured to the opposite ends of the beams, tie-rods connecting the foot-block and bearing-blocks, brackets provided With guide-rails secured to the beams, a splitter-head slidably mounted upon the guide-rails, a Work-rest secured to the beams intermediate of the brackets and foot-block, and means for imparting re ciprocation to the splitter-head.

3. A wood-splitting machine having a horizontally disposed frame comprising parallel angle-iron beams, a foot-block extending crosswise of the beam ends and secured thereto, alined bearing-blocks secured to the opposite ends of the beams, tie-rods connecting the foot-block and bearing-blocks, brackets provided with guide-rails secured to the beams, a splitter-head slidably mount ed upon the guide rails, a crankshaft mounted in the bearing-blocks, a pitman in connection with the crank-shaft and splitterhead, a drive-shaft mounted upon the angleiron beams in gear connection with the crank-shaft, a clutch-mechanism in connec tion with the gear, and a work-rest secured to said angle-iron beams -intermediate of the brackets and foot-block.

4. A wood-splitting machine having a longitudinally disposed frame comprising parallel angle-iron beams, a foot-block extending crosswise of the beam ends and secured thereto; alined bearing blocks secured to the opposite ends of the beams, tie-rods connecting the foot-block and bearing-blocks, brackets provided with guide-rails secured to the beams, a splitter-head slidably mounted upon the guide-rails, a concavo-convex Work-rest secured to the beams intermediate of the brackets and foot-block, and means for imparting reciprocation t0 the splitterhead.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand at Appleton in the county of Outagamie and State of Wisconsin in the presence of two Witnesses.

HERMAN G. SAECKER. Witnesses:

F. HEINEMANN, M. M. LOGKERYQ 

